The House Ethics Committee on Thursday reversed its earlier decision to streamline lawmakers’ disclosure of privately-financed travel information after the change ignited a flurry of criticism on Capitol Hill this week.

Lawmakers had denounced the panel’s Tuesday action as a move away from transparency after the committee quietly ended a requirement that members of Congress and their aides list on yearly financial disclosure forms trips paid for by companies and nonprofits. Officials are already required to make detailed information public about their trips within 15 days of the trip’s conclusion.

The committee defended its rationale Thursday in a two-page news release and five pages answering frequently-asked questions. The change to eliminate the “duplicative” reporting had been made at the recommendation of its nonpartisan, professional staff and didn’t change any of the rules regarding what types of private travel are permitted, the panel noted.

“To be clear, absolutely nothing was changed regarding the requirement that all Members and all House staff must file detailed, publicly available reports of privately sponsored travel within 15 days of the trip,” the committee wrote.

Still, the panel said it would return to its previous procedure.

“In light of feedback we have received from our fellow members and after further consideration, we have determined that the Committee will return to its previous guidance regarding disclosure of privately sponsored travel on financial disclosure reports, effective immediately,” the panel wrote.

Under the rules for privately-sponsored travel, lawmakers and aides must seek approval for trips from the Ethics Committee information before they depart. Within 15 days of returning, they must disclose the names of the sponsors of the travel and the cost with the Clerk of the House. All that information is available online for the public to see.

Still, some lawmakers cheered the committee’s decision to return to its previous guidelines.

“I commend the Ethics Committee for coming to their senses,” said Rep. Dave Loebsack (D., Iowa), who had earlier said he would introduce legislation reversing the rule change once he returned to Washington from his July 4 holiday. “These moves only deepen the mistrust the American people have in Congress,” he said of the panel’s proposal.

GOP Rep. Steve Daines, running for a Senate seat in Montana, also lauded the panel’s reversal.

“The American people deserve and expect transparency from their elected officials,” Mr. Daines said in a statement.

The current rules for congressional travel were spawned by the lobbying scandal involving Jack Abramoff and several Republicans members of Congress. Before the current rules, companies and lobbyists could pay for all sorts of travel for public officials with only bare-bones disclose of the costs of the trips.

When Democrats won control of Congress in the wake of the scandal, they imposed new requirements on such travel. For one, companies could only pay for relatively short trips for lawmakers and their aides. Registered lobbyists were banned from being involved in the travel. And lawmakers and aides were subject to new rules requiring them to make public much more information about their travel.

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